Heretofore, the selvage warp yarns that bind the fill yarns during the weaving operation were slit from the fabric warp yarns and discarded.
DE 3025744 discloses an apparatus wherein the selvage warp yarns are spaced from the main warp yarns forming the fabric. The continuous selvage warp yarns are spliced from the main fabric body after weaving, the cut warp yarns are removed, and the selvage warp yarns are returned to the weaving machine.
This invention is also directed to a method and apparatus for reducing waste by recycling the warp yarns of the selvage. The selvage warp yarns are guided in a continuous pattern through the loom, returned through a spreader means to discard the cut fill fringe yarns and recombined to go through the loom again.